Crisp Autumn & Pretty Pumpkins Cards with Mendi

Hello and welcome! This is Mendi here today, popping in to share some fall cards featuring the Crisp Autumn Stamps.

For my first card showcasing the Crisp Autumn Stamps, I paired the layered fall leaves and the "Happy Autumn" sentiment from the set with the large sunflower and green leaves from the Sunflower Fields Stamps. I then layered them with a couple of loopy circle die-cuts cut from brown cardstock using the Snowflake Circle Frame Dies to form my grapevine twine wreath.

Here's a closer look at how I inked only the recessed portions of my embossed background. I used a spongy foam ink brayer with VersaFine Clair Cheerful Ink to apply ink to only the raised diamond side portion of my embossing folder. I then laid a clean white A2-sized cardstock panel on the dry side of my embossing folder, positioned just where I wanted it, and carefully closed the lid onto my sheet of paper before rolling the sandwich through my die-cutting machine. It's important to note that this technique only works with pigment inks, which are sticky enough to adhere to the slick plastic surface of the embossing folder. Sadly, dye inks will only bead up on the surface. 

As a finishing touch, I applied our Champagne Clear Jewels with Multi Medium Matte liquid adhesive to the center of my sunflower to add sparkle and make it the true focal point of my card. It was difficult for me to capture in the photo, but the clear rhinestones really catch the light in person and helped add that tiny bit of bling I was looking for. I also love that their clear nature allows the stamped image from below to peek through, making these the perfect match with whatever you use them with.

For my second card of the day, I started by creating an oversized picket fence using the pencil die from our Color My World Dies, cut from woodgrain textured cardstock. This cardstock is naturally a kraft brown color, but I decided it would be fun to create a whitewashed look to brighten up my fence and emphasize the incredible texture of the paper. I achieved this just by dipping my finger into Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink and rubbing it along the surface of each die-cut fence piece before hitting them with a heat gun to speed up the drying process. 

I then used a Tim Holtz clear ruler to line them up on my card front and help keep them evenly spaced. I started by adhering the two slats on the outside edges. I then added the one in the very center of my card. From there, I found the center between the two posts on each side, leaving me with only two posts to fill in between each of those, which I eyeballed. I then added a grass border using the grassy border die from the Picket Fence Dies, adding flicks of "grass" with my Copic Marker pen. I created an arrangement of pumpkins in front of my fence using the images from the Pretty Pumpkins Stamps and Crisp Autumn Stamps. Finally, I stamped my thank you sentiment from the Words of Gratitude Stamps onto a stitched label from the Sliding Window Dies.

I am frequently asked which ink colors I used for my layered images. While I think there are so many great options out there, these are the colors I used today from light to dark:

Sunflower Petals
PinkFresh Lemon Whip
PinkFresh Sunshine

PinkFresh Sweet Mustard 

PinkFresh Marigold

Sunflower Seeds Center
PinkFresh Doe
Versafine Clair Acorn

Sunflower Leaves 

PinkFresh Grassy Knoll
PinkFresh Key Lime
PinkFresh Studio Olive
PinkFresh Studio Evergreen

Pumpkins
PinkFresh Studio Apricot
PinkFresh Studio Clementine
Concord & 9th Marmalade
Hero Arts Green Hills
Hero Arts Fresh Lawn

Red Leaf
PinkFresh Studio Passion Fruit
Hero Arts Red Royal
Concord & 9th Cranberry
Gina K. Warm Cocoa

Orange Leaf
PinkFresh Studio Apricot
Gina K. Sweet Mango
PinkFresh Studio Persimmon 

Yellow Leaf
Concord & 9th Buttercup
Hero Arts Butterbar
PinkFresh Studio Apricot
Gina K. Sweet Mango

That wraps up my projects for today. Thanks so much for hanging out with me. I hope I've inspired you to spread a little happiness by sending out a card to someone you love. 💛

Don't forget to check out our Pretty Pumpkins Stamps, Pretty Pumpkins Dies, Sunflower Fields Dies, and Dapper Diamond Embossing Folder in our online shop, which are currently on sale!  Also, while you are there, check out the loads of other card ideas on each of the product pages, as there are so many other beautiful ways to use these stamps!

Supplies Used:

Crisp Autumn Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Crisp Autumn Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sunflower Fields Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sunflower Fields Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Pretty Pumpkins Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Pretty Pumpkins Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Words of Gratitude Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Dapper Diamonds Embossing Shop at: Sunny Studio
Picket Fence Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sliding Window Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snowflake Circle Frame Shop at: Sunny Studio	Color My World Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Cheerful Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Acorn Shop at: Sunny Studio
PinkFresh Studio Blending Brushes Shop at: Sunny Studio	Multi Medium Matte Shop at: Sunny Studio	Champagne Clear Jewels Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Crisp Apple, Wood Barrel, & Punny Apple Greetings

Hello and welcome to Day 3 of our Holiday Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which will be available for purchase this Friday!

Card No. 1: Today I am featuring cards using our new Crisp Apple Dies which come with both small and large apples and an optional apple core, layered Wood Barrel Dies, and a 3x4 Punny Apple Greetings Stamp set which I used together on my first card.

For my apples, I started by die-cutting them from white cardstock and then inked them up first with Candied Apple Distress ink and then a little Fired Brick along the left edge to create a shadow. I made sure to not ink and allow some of the white cardstock to peek through to form the shine along the right side and I love how quickly they came alive! The wood barrel was designed with cut lines between each of the wood slats so that you can slide some scratch paper in between and ink them up on one side to add extra dimension before layering on the three riveted metal "rings". I cut mine from metallic cardstock to add an extra touch of realism.

My backdrop was created by pairing the new Buffalo Plaid Straight die together with our Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils to form a custom-made textured gingham background. To frame my barrel of apples I used our Stitched Arch Dies and then topped it with a red banner cutout using our Brilliant Banner 4 Dies and heat embossed a punny sentiment from the Punny Apple Greetings Stamps.

Card No. 2: For my next card I used the larger apple size from our new Crisp Apple Dies, adding a bite from the top one using the pom-pom die from our Warm & Cozy Dies. To frame my three apples, I used our Window Trio Square Dies and tucked a zig-zag edge behind them along each side using our Ric-Rac Border Dies. I mounted them onto a red striped panel which I created with the new Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils and the same matching Candied Apple Distress ink that I had used to ink up my apples. Lastly, I tucked in a sentiment under the bottom apple using the Punny Apple Greeting Stamps, heat-embossing the greeting onto the Brilliant Banner 3 Dies which had been inked up to match my green stiched square windows.

Card No. 3: Are we seeing a trend here? While I didn't set out to create a series of red and green cards, apparently the complimentary color scheme was really speaking to me. Ha-ha! This card started out with the Stitched Heart window which I had leftover from another card that I will be sharing on Friday. 

This panel was the very first background I ever made using our new Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Dies which I had inked with a gingham print using our new Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils. I quickly realized I should have pulled out my favorite stencil spray to keep the stripes from shifting with the movement of my ink-blending brushes. As a Pacific NW gal, I hate to see anything go to waste so rather than tossing my first attempt, I hid the wobbliness of my lines by inking the background with some Worn Lipstick Distress ink. When it comes to patterned paper I'm often drawn to tone-on-tone prints without stark white so this not only solved my boo-boo, but also ended up being exactly my style.

For my focal point, I added two sliced apples from our new Crisp Apple Dies and paired them with the cute worm from our Garden Critters Stamps. I heat embossed a Punny Apple Greeting using White Detail Embossing Powder onto our Brilliant Banner 1 Dies which were inked in a green ombre to match the apple leaves. Lastly, I added a stitched edge to the bottom of my red gingham panel and tucked behind it a white scalloped lace edge using our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies.

Card No. 4: Introducing a new color to the mix, for this card I ink my background using Broken China with our new Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Dies and Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils. This time I accidentally had my cardstock shift when I attempted to run the panel through my machine a second time, but once again I saved it from the trash bin figuring it could use it for a card where most of it was covered. Can we see a theme here? Ha-ha! I thought it would be the perfect compliment to this sweet card featuring the Crisp Apple Dies on a tree branch using the Out on a Limb Dies. I framed the scene using our Stitched Rectangle Dies, stamped a Punny Apple Greeting along the bottom, and finished off my design with a blue butterfly to match using our Watering Can Stamps.

Card No. 5: I thought the Crisp Apple Dies and Wood Barrel Dies would look so great with our Autumn Tree Die which comes with the option to add little matching apples. To save myself from needing to fill in a full set of leaves on my tree, I drew a rough circle on the back of a piece of white cardstock and then sketched in some irregular scallops to fussy cut with my scissors. I then flipped it over and used the other side to ink up and position behind my tree. I kept the rest of my 4x8 inch vertical slimline card design quite simple, adding only a little grass behind my barrel of apples using the Slimline Nature Border Dies and a heat-embossed sentiment with our Punny Apple Greetings Stamps.

Card No. 6: For this next card, I paired the pumpkins from our Pumpkin Patch Dies with the new Wood Barrel Dies which I thought was such a fun combination! Like my apples, these pumpkins started out being die-cut from white cardstock and were inked with Picked Pumpkin Distress ink to add extra dimension and 3D realism. I was really feeling the gingham backgrounds for these cards so I once again paired the new Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Dies and Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils using the same Picked Pumpkin Distress ink to match. I added a Stitched Rectangle to frame my scene, stamping the "Happy Autumn" greeting from our Crisp Autumn Stamps.

Card No. 7: My last card of the day pairs the new Wood Barrel Dies with the pumpkins from our Pretty Pumpkin Stamps, the leaves and pumpkins from our Crisp Autumn Stamps, and the "thanks for your kindness" sentiment from our Autumn Greetings Stamps. I kept the rest of this 4x8 inch horizontal slimline card very simple, blending the center of my white background with an ombre that blends from blue to green using Broken China and Twisted Citron Distress inks.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $25 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily contests will run through Monday, August 26th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Friday, August 30th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Here's a closer look at our new Crisp Apple Dies, Wood Barrel Dies, and Punny Apple Greetings Stamps used today and available for purchase on Friday, August 23rd.

 

Other Supplies Used:

Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Crisp Autumn Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Crisp Autumn Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio
Autumn Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Pretty Pumpkins Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Pretty Pumpkins Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ric Rac Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Window Trio- Square Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Arch Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Nature Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Out on A Limb Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Stitched Heart 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Watering Can Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Watering Can Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Autumn Tree Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Pumpkin Patch Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Garden Critters Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Garden Critters Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Brilliant Banner 1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 4 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Buffalo Plaid Straight Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio